Exploration of the teaching method for the prescription of the misconceptions on the Candle Experiment

촛불 실험과 관련된 오개념 교정을 위한 지도방안 탐색

There is an experiment in the elementary science textbook which a burning candle hold upright in a water tank and a beaker is converted over the burning candle, the candle flame goes out and the water rises into the beaker. Some reference books including teachers' guide for the elementary school teachers explain the reason why water rises that oxygen is "used up", so water rises the same volume of consumed oxygen into the beaker. But this explanation is only partially correct. In this study, discrepancies of the explanation that oxygen is "used up" are analyzed. Water rises by two major reasons. One is that water can rise to the level about l/3 of the volume of consumed oxygen. The other is that the beaker is converted over the burning candle which produces hot CO2 and water vapor, and the candle's flame heats the air around it to expand, after the candle flame goes out, the air in the beaker cools and water vapor changes to liquid water, so, air pressure in the beaker is reduced, and the water is pushed into the beaker by great air pressure outside. 1 demonstrate a inquiry teaching method of the candle experiment.